Ambition

Ambition isn’t necessarily a bad thing…until you have too much of it, and I’m thinking I’m on that slippery slope! I have projects started everywhere, and I am bouncing from one to the other like mad! I still have the girls’ throw blankets on the knitting looms, a new sock on the sock loom, having “sort of” finished the infant sock I had on it initially (more on that later), hubby’s scarf on another loom, Moya still has a warp on her, Talyn still has a warp on, the infinity loom has another throw blanket on it, and I decided to attempt a hat on one of the circular looms yesterday. There is also still plenty of roving waiting to be spun on the Ashford spindle, and a good two pounds of Sibe fur waiting for a visit to Anansi. That may be a bit too much going on at once.

The sock I was attempting was primarily for practice, to make sure I could get the techniques right rather than actually making something someone would wear. After I did the heel, I knit a few more rows, then worked the toe immediately. So the techniques are done correctly, just not wearable, because I didn’t work the foot section at all. So the sock that is presently on the loom is the one I’m hoping will be part of an actual, wearable pair. We’ll see how that goes!

All of my knitting looms now sport a dot of nail polish on every other peg so I can keep track of whether I should be knitting or purling. I chose nail polish because I can remove it without much fuss, and as a woman, it was something I had on hand. Not that I’ve painted my nails in forever…

The hat is another practice item. My neighbor asked me about making her a knit beanie for winter sports, and I looked up at my circular knitting looms and thought, “Sure, I could do that!” Naturally, I’ve never done that, so I will see if I can manage a decent hat for Bryony and go from there. I’ve already made one mistake: I put it on my smallest circular loom, and I think I need to go another size larger. Fortunately, I haven’t gotten very far yet, so I should be okay pulling it off of one and starting over on another. I wasn’t accounting for the fact that while it is on the loom, the hat will be stretched out, and when it comes off, it’s going to snap back to where it should be, in which case, any hat made on the smallest isn’t going to fit any head but an infant’s. Wait a minute…my goddaughter is expecting a girl in April! Guess I’ll be leaving the hat on the smallest loom after all!

This new baby is going to give me all manner of excuses for weaving, crocheting, and knitting! Unfortunately, I will probably never get to see her in person, just in pictures, but that’s just something I will have to deal with. Neither of us at either end travels much outside of our own metropolitan areas, and we’re on opposite sides of the country. But that doesn’t mean I can’t spoil her from afar, which I fully intend to do. My goddaughter is a fantastic girl, always straight As in school, levelheaded, and absolutely beautiful inside and out. I don’t imagine her daughter will be any different, so spoiling her won’t be a hardship.

Of course, the baby isn’t the only one giving me reasons to play with string! Bryony’s security blankets are starting to fall apart from all the love they receive, which is why I’ve got one going for her, Aneira just likes having anything Mama makes, and I can’t make something for one without making something for the other.

Aneira just made her first potholder, all by herself!! I’m so proud of her. The only thing I had to do was cast off/finish the edges for her. She was quite perturbed at the fact that it got smaller as it came off the loom, but she has persevered and now would like me to buy her more loopers so she can make more squares, so that’s on next week’s to-do list. I’m hoping to get both her blanket and her sister’s ready by Christmas, so they can cuddle under them while watching tv on Christmas night, assuming they are calm enough to do so that night. Aneira’s is nearly done, but Bryony’s isn’t even close, and I’m thinking that the yarn I’m using, Lion Brand Homespun Purple Haze, may not hold up to her affection. So I may yet be taking it apart and trying again with a different type of yarn.

On top of the unfinished projects I have at home, I still have jewelry and stained glass projects to finish at school, and a three dimensional stained glass project to start, and only three weeks left of school, which means only three classes left. I’m told stained glass kaleidoscopes are fairly simple to make, I love kaleidoscopes, and they would certainly cover the 3D requirement of the final project, so I’m going to go look at some patterns now. Here’s hoping this works out!! Happy Thanksgiving to all!